World News - US plans last big push in Iraq Strategy document calls for extra 20,000 troops, aid for Iraqi army and regional summit

Bush has told senior advisers that the US and its allies must make "a last big push" to win the war in Iraq and that instead of beginning a troop withdrawal next year, he may increase US forces by up to 20,000 soldiers, according to sources familiar with the administration's internal deliberations.Mr Bush's refusal to give ground, coming in the teeth of growing calls in the US and Britain for a radical rethink or a swift exit, is having a decisive impact on the policy review being conducted by the Iraq Study Group chaired by Bush family loyalist James Baker, the sources said.Although the panel's work is not complete, its recommendations are expected to be built around a four-point "victory strategy" developed by Pentagon officials advising the group. The strategy, along with other related proposals, is being circulated in draft form and has been discussed in separate closed sessions with Mr Baker and the vice-president Dick Cheney, an Iraq war hawk.... http://www.guardian.co.uk

A man whose violent arrest by Los Angeles Police officers was videotaped and posted on YouTube was scheduled to be released from jail Wednesday.William Cardenas, 23, made an unexpected appearance Wednesday in Los Angeles County Superior Court.He pleaded no contest to one misdemeanor count of fleeing from police. Two felony resisting arrest charges against him were dropped.A gang enhancement to the charges was also dropped, Kwaku Duren, Cardenas' attorney, told reporters.Duren said his client "is still somewhat dismayed by the assault that he suffered ... and he would like to see justice."Asked whether that meant money, Duren replied, "In today's world, that means money."...http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/11/15/lapd.suspect/index.html?eref=rss_us

The presidents of Central American countries have signed a pact at the opening of an anti-corruption summit. The 12th international anti-corruption conference is being held in Guatemala, historically one of the most corrupt countries in the world. Backed by anti-corruption organisation Transparency International, the summit is due to discuss a range of methods to tackle the problem. Officials from Africa, Asia and Europe are also at the summit. Corruption in Central America is a deep-seated problem which will need significant changes in society to eradicate completely. The Central American leaders have signed an anti-corruption pact which, they hope, will demonstrate their intention to tackle the high levels of institutional corruption in their societies. ...http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6153088.stm

Al Qaeda is reinvigorating its operations from havens on the Afghan-Pakistani border and poses a growing challenge to U.S. interests in both Iraq and Afghanistan, American intelligence officials said on Wednesday. Five years after the September 11 attacks and the fall of Taliban rule in Afghanistan, the network led by Osama bin Laden has replaced leaders killed or captured by the United States and its allies with new seasoned militants. "It has shown resilience," CIA Director Michael Hayden told the Senate Armed Services Committee. "The loss of a series of Al Qaeda leaders since 9/11 has been substantial. But it's also been mitigated by what is, frankly, a pretty deep bench of low-ranking personnel capable of stepping up to assume leadership positions," Hayden said. "These new leaders average over 40 years of age and two decades of involvement in global jihadism."...http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061116/ts_nm/security_qaeda_dc

A sanitation worker who wanted the city to give him the $1,900 he found in junk at a drop-off spot because no one ever claimed it won't get the cash but he doesn't care. "I'm just ecstatic," David Voight said Wednesday evening. "I'm glad it finally ended up in the right hands. That's where it belongs." The city announced Wednesday that the family of Winnebago County highway worker Marc Neumeyer, 55, who died with a fellow worker in a traffic crash on U.S. 41 last March 7, came forward with information that proved the money was his. City Attorney Jim Godlewski said Voight would get a $250 reward for his honesty, and the Neumeyer family was chipping in an additional reward of $400. News reports earlier in the week told how Voight had not gotten the money that he discovered last July in envelopes attached with magnets to the bottom of a discarded metal desk. ...http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=2656863

Missouri's chief justice said Wednesday that a recent abortion law did not appear to infringe on free-speech rights — dulling one of the main arguments of abortion providers seeking to overturn the law. At issue before the Supreme Court is a September 2005 law that lets parents or guardians sue anyone who intentionally helps their minor daughter get an abortion without parental consent or a court order. A Jackson County circuit judge last year expressed "substantial trepidation" while upholding the law and issued an injunction against enforcing it pending an appeal to the Missouri Supreme Court. The primary argument from Planned Parenthood affiliates and others challenging the law is that it would infringe on their free-speech rights to tell minors how they can abort their fetuses without parental consent in neighboring Illinois. But Chief Justice Michael Wolff quickly cast doubt on that claim Wednesday by citing the law, which states: ...http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-11-15-abortion_x.htm?csp=34